Process of treating ore and like materials



"N, E. TRENT PROCESS OF TREATING ORE AND LIKE MATERIALS Julyv 10, 1923- Luni* r111111111111 @H111 Het;

Patented July 10, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.v

WALTER E. TRENT, 0F WASHINGTON, DISTRICT y0F COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TO TRENT PROCESS CORPORATION, OF WASHINGTON. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, A CORPORA- TION OF DELAWARE.

PROCESS OF TBEATING ORE AND LIKE MATERIALS.

Application filed February 21, 1920. Serial No. 360,452.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER E. TRENT, citizen of the United States of America, residing. at Washington, inthe District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Treating Ore and like Materials, of which the following is a specification.

lThe invention relates to a process of sintering and smelting ores and materials in a line state of division.

It is an object of the invention to provide a process for sintering and smelting, finely divided orcs and materials, by first forming a sintered mass of divided fuel and ore or other materials, and in secondly burning thev fuel of the mass to smelt the ore or material incorporated therein.

The invention aims to provide a process for eifectively treating fine particles of ore to smelt the same. It is also applicable to the treatment of that class of materials known as downtake or flue dust, slimes, sludge, precipitates and the like.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a process of smelting ore in a treatment chamber, wherein the use of refractory linings is eliminated in whole or in part by protecting the walls of the container with a portion of the sintered .mass which constitutes a heat protecting lining therefor.

In following the process the iinely divided ore is fluxed if necessary and both fuel and 'fluxed ore introduced to the treatment' chamber under a desired velocity 'to be'subjected to the proper heat treatment. T-he fuel may be comminuted coal, coke, fuel oil, a combustible gas, or the like. The

. heat treatment renders the charge in asomewhat viscous orv sticky condition so that when projected with suitable.velocity upon a surface, the charge will adhere th'ereto and build up a sintered and agglomerated mass. The entire charge is directed towards the wall of the treatment chamber` and the particles of ore together with that portion .of the fuel which has not been burned are madefto adhere to the same and to each other thereby removing the solids from the gaseous products which are then discharged. l

Many ores and mineral substances contain combustible materials such as carbon,

sulphur, and the like, which render the addition -of fuel unnecessary, or only necessary in less quantities, and in treating Vsuch substances the addition of extraneous fuel may be eliminated or curtailed.

The fuel substance, whether it be extraneous or inherent, will preferably be only partly consumed in forming the sintered mass as it is desirable to leave a suiiicient amount of fuel distributed throughout the mass so that the smelting of the same may take place by introducing a proper supply of oxygen or air to the treatment chamber to cause combustion of the remaining fuel incorporated with the char e. At other times the fuel will be complete y consumed in forming the sintered mass of partially smelted ore, and additional fuel will be added as required to complete the smelting of the sintered mass.

lVhen a sintered mass has been formed, the same may be discharged and introduced to a smelting furnace of any well known type, or preferably, without removing the mass from the treatment chamber, the smelt-ing operation can be finished by introducing a supply of air, or fuel and air to the chamber. The heated condition of the chamber and the charge, when the air is thus introduced, will result in a burning of the fuel and a smelting of the finely divided sintered and partially treated particles of ore. The part of the charge directly exposed to the heat, and thereafter progressively the balance of the 'm'a becomes smelted forming sl'ags and metal which collect in molten form and are discharged either continuously or intermittently.

The smelting reactions desired may require either an oxidizing, reducing or neutral atmosphere, and any of these conditions can be maintained, for example, when reducing iron oxide ores, only sufficient oxygen will be introduced so that part of all of the fuel will be converted into carbon monoxide, which gas will take oxvgen from the iron oxide forming carbon dioxide gas and metallic iron. An example of an oxidizing atmosphere will occur in treating iron-zinc sulphide when desired to form SO2 and SO, gases and metallic oxides or metals. In this case air will be introduced in suicient quantities to convert the car' state of division, ismixed with a fuel and?? slagging agent, and the charge given a heat treatment, a sintered mass can be formed consisting of, partially slagged ore, and fuel,

in a relatively firm state. To form this sintered mass, it is preferable to project theheat treated particles of ore and fuel upon a surface when they are in an adhesive condition, at which time the charge will adhere to the surface, and the particles to each other, forming a coherent mass of ore and fuel in a sintered condition. It will, therefore, be seen that the sintered mass contains fuel and thoroughly distributed particles of ore so that to smelt the ore it is only necessary to consume or burn the fuel of the mass, the burning beginning with the exposed fuel, and progressively consuming the desired quantity of fuel in the mass which results in a smelting and slagging of the ore particles distributed therein. .The burning of the fuel of the mass is preferably re lated so that combustion is terminated efore the entire mass of sintered fuel and ore disposed within a treatment chamber is smelted in order to leave a sufficient thickness of charge to constitute aprotecting lining for the chamber. This lining eliminates or curtails the necessity of using refractory linings which are now used in all types of smelters and must be frequently replaced, and if a refractory lining is used the'coating of sintered charge will protect it fromv deterioration.

Referring now, more specifically to the drawings 'wherein like reference characters indicate corresponding parts the numeral 1 designates a treatment chamber which may be of any desired size and configuration but which for the urpose of illustration is shown as of a cy 'ndrical shape having bell shaped ends and hollow supporting trunnions 2 and 3 at 'each end thereof. The

chamber 1 is also provided with a removable top or cover late 4, normally maintained in position by threaded members 5, and having an openin y 6 therein adapted to be normally closed y a closure plate 7, movable to expose the opening when desired, for a* purpose which will hereinafter appear. At one end the hollow trunnion 3 lfeed sufpply pipe 16 at of the treatment chamber receives a slidably disposed feed member 6, having a, discharge head 7 provided with peripheral discharge openings 8, the hollow shank of the feed member bei connected at its opposite end with a threa ed rod 9 disposed within the interior of a feed conduit 10 and operated by means of a hand/wheel 11, connected therewith for reciprocating the feed member 6 within the treatment chamber. To enable a. reciprocation of this feed member upon an actuation of the hand wheel 11, a nut 12 provided with threadscooperatinv with the threads on the rod 9 is employe this nut being positioned between suitable confining elements, and adapted to be engaged by a shiftable device 13. This device when in the position disclosed in Figure 1, prevents a rotation of the nut which, of course, imparts to the feed member 6 a sliding movement upon the actuation of the wheel 11.

The feed conduit 10 communicating with the feed member 6 is provided with an extension 14, extending to the point 15 and having a communication with a feed supply p1pe 16, receiving a fuel, ore and slagging agent from the hopper 17 by means of the feed conveyor 18 communicating :with a venturi disposed in the feed supply 16 in advance of an air pump 19 for creating an air current through the feed supply pipe 16, the conduit 10 and feeding member 6. A suitable air valve 20 is disposed ywithin the a point adjacent the pump or the purpose of admitting the required quantity of air to the treatment chamber when a mass of material is undergoin treatment. There is also disposed within the feed su ply pipe 16 a water or other agent introdliicing feed pipe 21 for conveying water, oil, or the like to the material passing through this feed supply pipe under velocity. r

The discharge end or trunnion 2 of the treatment chamber 1 communicates with a discharge elbow 22,- a suitable packing 23 being disposed at the point of connection between these elements, while the conduitV 22 1s provlded with a universal union connection with a discharge pipe 25, telescoping wlth a discharge pipe 26 havin a turning gland connection 27 with a disc arge 28. A suitable discharge 29 is also disposed within the elbow 22 adjacent the end of the trunnion 2, this discharge being normall closed b a plug I30, the purpose of the difY ferent ischarge openings to more fully hereinafter appear. v f

When a supply of finely divided ore, is to be smelted, the same is iluxed if necessary and introduced with a fuel agent such as pulverized coal, oil or the like, and fed from the hopper -17 into the feed supply 16. The

pump 19 is of course placed in operation,

forcing air under velocity through the feed pipe 16, which takes up or entrans the incoming fuel and ore at the venturi, carrying the same through the feeding pipe 14, the feed conduit 10, and the feeding member 6, discharging the fuel air and ore under velocity through the peripheral openings 8 in the head of the feed member toward the side walls of the treatment chamber 1. Prior to the introduction of this fuel and ore the treatment chamber is preferably heated by means of a gas torch 31 the nozzle of which is inserted through the opening 6 normally closed bythe closure plate 7 and this preliminary heating of the treating chamber continues until the interior thereof has been heated to a temperature sucient to ignite the fuel introduced to the chamber with the ore. Thereafter combustion of the fuel mixed with the ore main-y tains the proper temperature in the treatment chamber to carry on the operation. When the desired temperature has been reached the torch is withdrawn a'nd the 'heat treatment occurs as a result of the combustion or partial combustion of the fuel lintroduced with the charge, all non-gaseous products from the fuel with the particles of ore which have become viscous and partially smelted are projected against the inner surface of the treatment chamber and adhere thereto, and build up a sintered mass of carbon and partially smelted ore. The mass will firmly adhere to the walls of the treatment chamber, or to the mass already formed, and the art'cles of ore and fuel will be uniformly distributed throughout the sintered mass. The feeding of the charge is continued until the desired thickness of the sintered mass is built up on the inner surface to the treatment chamber. as disclosed for the purpose of illustraton by the dotted lines in Figure 1. It is to be understood that while the charge is being introduced to the chamber and undergoing its heat treatment, the feed member 6 is slowly reciprocated or moved 'by the manipulation of the turning wheel 11.

As shown in the drawings the trunnions 2 and 3 of the treatment chamber .are supported in a cradle 31 for a rotary movement, the cradle being secured to a suitable supporting K shaft having a gear 33 thereon, meshing with a worm 34, operated by a hand wheel 35. The supporting shaft has also a loosely mounted pulley 36 disposed thereon, firmly connected with a sprocket 37 s hown in dotted lines, the sprocket recelving a chain 3 8 turning over a sprocket 39 and operating a worm gear 40 supported upon the cradle by means of a supporting shaft, the'worm gear 40 meshing with a worm wheel 41 xedly secured to the treatment chamber. By this construction it will be apparent that during the formation of the sintered mass, the ,treatment chamber may be slowly rotated, so as to insure a uniform deposit of the mass upon the walls of the chamber, and this rotation is also very des rable during the smelting of the ore con tent in the mass which will be now described.

When a charge has been deposited upon' for the smelting of the ore content distrib-- uted in the fuel. However, it is preferable not to remove the charge from the treatment chamber when thesame is to undergo a smelting step, but rather to allow the charge to remain in the chamber during this operation when any fuel forming a part of the mass is consumed, or additional fuel supplied When sulicientfuel for proper smelting is notV contained within the sintered mass.. When a sintered mass is formed and the smelting of the ore is to take place, the hand wheel 35 is operated and through the medium of the gears 33 and 34 the entire cradle and the treatment chamber is tilted for a reason which hereinafter appear. A

sufficient 'quantity of air from the air pump 19 and valve 20 mixed'with fuel if desired, is introduced to the container ofthe treat-4 ment chamber and combustion brought about by the heat of the chamber and the exposed 4mass, causing a smelting of the mass. During the introduction of this air the treatment chamber is slowly revolved by the mechanism which has heretofore been debe yrec`procated, the part of the charge directly exposed to the heat becoming` smelted. and thereafter the balance of the mass progressively smelted as the fuel is consumed. When a sintered mass is being formed in the treatment chamber, the products of combustion and any unburned distilled or volatile contentof the fuel are-,discharged through the elbow 22 and discharge conduits 25, 26 and 28 to a point of lcollection for the recovery of the unburned or partially burned gases, the same also applying during the smelting step. The molten metal and slag, resulting from the smelting operation flows through the trunnion 2 and discharge opening 29 to a point of collection. During the smelting operation thecradle and the'treatment chamber can betilted to any des'red angle, so that the molten mass position for the formation of another sintered mass.

to. discontinue combustion of the fuel when the sintered mass has been smelted to a point adjacent the Walls of the treatment chamber, thereby leaving a film 'or layer of unburned fuel and ore which constitutes a heat protecting lining for the container.

Amaterials, consisting in subjecting divided particles of ore or the like to heat treatment to 'placec the same in adhesive condition, in projecting the treated ore upon a collecting surface to form a coherent mass, and in then applying heat to the mass to smelt the ore.

2. The method of treating ore and like materials, consisting in subjecting divided particles of ore and a fuel to a heat treatment to place the particles in an adhesive condition, and to distill the volatile products from tlie fuel, in projecting the heated particles upon a collecting surface to'form a sintered composite mass, and in then 'causing "combustion of the fuel in the mass, to smelt j the ore contained therein.

3. The process of treating ore and like materials consisting in introducing to a treatment zone comminuted fuel and ore, in subjecting the fuel and ore to a'heat treatment to place the particles in a viscous condition, in projecting the lviscous particles upon a collecting surface to form a coherent mass, and in smelting the yore contained in the mass by burning the fuel thereof during a'movement of the collecting surface.

l, 4..'I`he process of treating ore and like materials consisting in Vintroducing to a treatment chamber comminuted fuel and ore, in subjecting the fuel and ore to the presence of heat to place the particles in a 4viscous condition and to distill the volatile content vticles upon the chamber walls, in rotating the chamber, and in burning the fuel of the mass on the chamber walls during the rotation thereof. Y

, 5. The process of treatingA ore and like materials, consisting in introducing to a treatment chamber comminuted fuel and ore., in subjecting the fuel and ore to a heat l treatment to distill the volatile productsfrom the fuel, in projecting the heated particles upon the walls ofthe treating chamber to form a'coherent mass thereon of fuel and lore, and in smelting the ore by introducing materials, consisting in introducing to a treatment chamber comminuted fuel and ore, in subjecting the fuel and ore to a heat treatment to distill the volatile products from the fuel, in projecting the heated particles upon the Walls of the treating chamber to form a coherent mass thereon of fuel and ore, and in smelting the ore by introducing to the chamber oxygen to cause a burning of the fuel in the mass, and in moving the container during the combustion of the' fuel collected onits Wall. v

7. Theprocess of treating ore and like materials, consisting in introducing to a treatment chambeiw comminuted fuel and ore, in subjecting the fuel and ore to a heat treatment to distill the volatile products from the fuel, in projecting the heated particles upon thewalls of the treating chamber to form a coherent mass thereon of fuel and `ore, inV smelting the ore by introducing to the chamber oxygen to cause a burning of the fuel in the mass, in moving the container during the combustiqn of the fuel collected on itswall, and in discontinuingV the introduction' of oxygen to Ithe container when the fuel in the mass has been consumed to av point adjacent the collecting Walls of the container.

8. The processV of treating ore and like materials, consisting in introducing to a treatment chamber? comaninuted fuel and ore, in subjecting the introduced materials to a heat treatment to distillv the volatile products therefrom and to place the solid particles in a viscous condition, in projecting the viscous particles upon a projecting surface of the fcontainer to form a.-

coherent mass, and in then smelting the mass by ,introducing ai-r to the chamber to cause combustion of the fuel of the mass.

9. The process of treating ore and like materials, consisting in introducing to a treatment chamber comminuted fuel and ore, in subjecting the introduced materials to a heat treatment to distill the volatile products therefrom and to place the solid particles in a viscous condition, in projecting the viscous particles `upon a projecting surface .of the container to form a coherent mass,vand in then smelting themass by introducing air to the chamber to cause combustion of the fuel of the mass, and in discontinuing the introduction of air to the chamber when the fuel in the mass has been consumed 'to a point adjacent the collecting surface to leave ail' unburned layer of material on said surface.

10. The process of treating ore and like materials, consisting in introducing to a treatment chamber comminuted fuel andV ore, insubjecting the introduced materials to a heat treatment to distill the volatile products therefrom and to lace the solid particles in` a viscous con tien, in projectingV the viscous particles upon a projectand in discontinuing the introduction of air to the chamber. when the fuel in the mass has been consumed to a point adjacent the collecting surface to leave an unburned layer of material on said surface, and in rotating the container during the smelting of the formed mass.

11. The process of treating ore, which consists in subjecting to a heat treatment fine particlesof ore and a carbonaceous fuel, in collecting the volatiles removed from the fuel, in projecting the carbonized fuel particles and the ore upon a collecting surface to form a coherent mass of the fuel and ore-particles, and in then smelting the ore by burning the fuel distributed throughout the mass..

12, The process of treating ore, which consists in subjecting fine ore and coal particles to a lheat treatment to place said particles in a viscous condition, and in project- Aing the viscous particles upon a collecting surface with suicient force to cause them to unite to one `another and form a composite mass of fuel and ore.

13. The processl of treating ore, which consists in subjecting fine ore and coal parl ticles to a heat treatment to place said particles in a viscous condition, and in 4projectingthe viscous particles upon a collecting surface with. suicient force to cause them to unite to one another and form a composite mass of fuel and ore, and in burning the fuel content in said mass to smelt the ore.

14. The process of treating ore and like materials, which consists in introducing to i a movable collecting receptacle tine particles of ore'and carbonaceous material, in heat.- ing they collecting receptacle to place said particles in a viscous condition, in. projecting the viscous particles with sufficient force upon the rotating walls ofthe receptacle to cause said particles to unite thereon and build up a coherent mass of thefuel and ore, and in thereafter changing the condition of the ore byfburning the fuel content in the mass.

15. The process of treatingore and likeA materials, which consists in introducing to a movable collecting receptacle fine particles of vore and carbonaceous; material, in heating thecollecting receptacle -to place said particles in a viscous condition, in projecting the viscous particles with suicient force upon the rotating walls of the receptacle to cause said particles to unite thereon and build upx a coherentlmass of the `fuel and ore, and in thereafter changing the condition-of the ore by burning the fuel content in the mass -and by introducing to the rotating receptacle a sup ly of oxygen to promote the combustion o the fuel.

In testimony whereof I ail'x mylsignature. 1

vvilirxi'im E. TRENT. 

